Kissed and Confused
by slowpoke15hi5
Summary: Teenage cowboy Jasper gets more than he bargained for when he works the kissing booth at his sister's carnival. Edward shows up and makes him question his heterosexuality. Fluff ensues. E/J AU AH


Title: Kissed and Confused

Rated: T

Pairings: Jasper/Random Girls, mostly Jasper/Edward

Disclaimer: I don't own anything: not the characters, the horses or even a lousy cowboy hat. If only…. Also, I didn't have a beta for this because I wanted to get it published today. All mistakes are mine.

Summary: Teenage cowboy Jasper gets more than he bargained for when he works the kissing booth at his sisters' carnival. Edward shows up and makes him question his heterosexuality. Fluff ensues.

Words: 6,374

A/N: Hello All. This little ditty has been sitting on my computer waiting for the perfect time for me to polish her off. And what better occasion to share some cute teenage love than a fellow slashaholic's birthday? Today is tuesdaymidnight's birthday and I really wanted to share something for it. She was the first author that got me addicted to slash (with a Charlie/Jasper fic called The Cop and the Addict that you all need to go check out). And she still keeps me captivated today both on ffnet and twitter. She is a true inspiration and I can wish her nothing but the best out of life. I hope you have a fabulous birthday love.

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><p>JPOV<p>

I grumbled to myself again thinking for the hundredth time this hour that I so didn't want to be here right now. And where is _here_ you ask? Well, it just so happens that _here_ is my sister's Debutant Summer Kick Off Carnival. No, I wasn't here enjoying rides, candy and hot women- I was here to work. I much rather be back at home playing video games with my best friend Peter. Hell, I wouldn't even mind going to an extra shift at the diner as long as I was anywhere but here, sitting on this stool, about to get my face sucked off for the millionth time today.

I was working the kissing booth. Two weeks ago my mom had asked me to help out at Rose's event. I had been busy studying for finals and just agreed without even really listening to what I was agreeing to. Now, I was deeply regretting that lapse in judgment. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy kissing as much as any seventeen-year-old guy but this had lost its appeal after about the twentieth person in line.

I had picked out an outfit I knew made me look good and styled my hair in a way that would make even the most uptight girl cream her pants. I was wearing a black button up top with silver buttons tucked into my designer jeans. On my feet I was wearing black and silver cowboy boots. If I weren't worried about it messing up my hair I would have worn the cowboy hat to match. But that would have also made it difficult to kiss the girls.

I brushed my teeth twice just to make sure that I was extra presentable for the ladies. I knew I looked hot and I'm not above using that to my advantage. I mean, if someone wanted to spend more tickets, and therefore more money, to come back to my booth a second or third time just so they could look at me- who was I to complain? It's all for charity right? Right.

Now I wish I had dressed in rags, shaved my head and smoked a pack (and I don't even smoke) before I started. With the number of times Jessica Stanley had been through I think we could feed a whole village of crying children just from the price of her tickets alone.

I think it's important I explain how the booth is set up. I'm alone in this little room sitting on a stool with another stool in front of me. The walls are made of curtains, the doors just velvet flaps of curtain you push out of the way. Outside is the line where people stand waiting for their chance to kiss me. Therefore, I have no idea who is coming. Once they are here we have a bit of privacy but if people listen hard they can hear parts of any conversation that takes place. They pay their two tickets, and we kiss. The average kiss lasts for anywhere from one to five seconds. No tongue was aloud- _thank baby Jesus!_

Next to walk in was my ex: Alice. I groaned silently to myself. It's important to explain how Alice and I broke up. We had been dating for a few months and we were totally infatuated with each other. We went everywhere together and eventually we were ready to take our relationship to the next level. For one reason or another I just lost all connection with her after we had sex. I still liked her as a friend but all farther feelings were thrown out the window. She however, still had a major thing for me and couldn't get it through her head that I just didn't see her that way anymore.

Sitting down across from me she leaned forward and smiled at me. "Hey Jasper. So I know you don't like me anymore or whatever but I figured this is for charity so yeah." And with that, I took her two tickets, put them in the bin at my feet and released the sigh from my lips. Leaning forward I puckered my lips and waited. Alice wasted no time. She brought her lips to mine quickly and then tried to deepen the kiss by turning her head to the side. I held firm, keeping my head straight, counting the seconds away in my head_. One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thousand. Four one thousand. Five_…and she pulled away, a big smile still on her face. Sighing sweetly she said, "I've missed this Jasper. We should get back together." Gently letting her down I told her I needed to get back to work so she had to get going. If I am lucky, this will be the end of it.

Next up was the school slut, miss Lauren Mallery. She walks in wearing clothes I'm sure her father wouldn't let her out of the house in, practically showing me everything she had to offer right then and there. Sitting down across from me she dropped her tickets into the bin, smiled and gave me a wink. "You know Jasper, you're really hot. I've wanted to kiss you for a long time." And with that, she leaned forward, grabbed my face and attached her lips to mine. She smelled like sex. _The skank had the audacity to fuck some guy and then come here to give me a kiss, telling me she had wanted to do this for a long time? I don't _think_ so!_ Suffering through the kiss I let her think I was enjoying myself. She made these weird sucking sounds. Her lips were wet and they made me feel so wrong and dirty.

My patience running thin as it was, I pushed her away from me telling her that her time was up. When she stood up to leave I said, "Oh Lauren? Just so you know, you have absolutely no chance with me. You're a whore who has no self respect and I refuse to ever touch you again." Storming out of the booth I called after her, "Have a nice day." _God I can be a dick sometimes. But then again, she totally deserved it._

The next person who came in took me by surprise, Angela Weber. Angela was a shy girl who kept to herself most of the time. She was very pretty but lacked the self-confidence to go after any guy. Thanks to Rosalie, I happened to know that she was harboring a crush on Ben Cheney. Why she wanted to get a kiss from me I had no idea. As far as I knew she hadn't even had her first kiss. Normally, taking a girls' first kiss would be a huge turn on for me but I just didn't want that from Angela. She was a sweet girl and my sister would kill me if she found out. Angela, like my sister, was also a debutant and was dressed appropriately in a modest summer dress with her hair and makeup done.

"Angela, why are you here?" I asked her. At first I didn't think she was going to answer but she finally stated that she wanted to know what it felt like to kiss somebody. I was right; this would be her first kiss. "Um, Angela, I'll kiss you if you really want but I think I should tell you first that in about two hours Ben Cheney will be taking over the booth for the afternoon. Um, I just don't know if you really want your first kiss to be with me. Shouldn't you save that for someone special?" Blushing, Angela stood up from the chair, smiled weakly, nodded and turned to leave. I felt like I had done my good deed for the day. I was sure Angela would be back when Ben took over at noon.

In walked one of the prettiest girls in school, Tanya. Tanya has strawberry blonde hair and legs that go on for a mile. I would certainly not mind kissing her. Gesturing for her to take a seat I say hi and give her the run down on how this works. She smells like flowers and it draws me in. Placing my hands on her shoulders I lean in and gently lay my lips on hers. She has soft lips and they feel nice but there is no spark between us. Once the kiss is done and I watch her leave I think to myself that she is beautiful but there is something that just doesn't feel _right_.

Bella, Alice's best friend, comes strolling in chewing bubble gum. She stumbles into the chair, clumsy as ever and gives me a friendly smile. Kissing Bella will be strange; almost like kissing a sister. Shaking my head and laughing a little I shrug and get on with it. Bella is nice but someone should tell her that bubble gum is really not a great scent to smell when trying to kiss someone. When I got close enough to smell her my first reaction was to pull away, the sickly sweet scent overpowering my senses at first. This kiss can only be described as awkward; Bella and I are too good of friends for it to be anything else. After we pulled apart Bella got this strange look on her face, almost like she was trying to hold in a burp. Then, she burst out laughing. "Jasper, I'm sorry. You're a nice guy and I'll always be your friend but that was just creepy. Never kiss me again, kay?" I told her it was a deal and we both laughed as she walked out of the room.

I was still laughing when the next person walked in but as soon as I saw who it was my laughter caught dead in my throat. Sitting down in the chair across from me was someone I had never met before. It was dark haired guy. _A guy!_ For a while I just sat there staring at him, trying to figure out what was going on. There was another booth around the corner from mine that had a girl in it so that the guys had someone to go to too. Why wasn't he there? Why wasn't he waiting in line to kiss some beautiful debutant? And then it hit me, and I started laughing all over again. I couldn't control it, the laughter just kept coming and coming; regardless of how hard I tried to suppress it. Through the laughter I managed to get out, "Did Peter put you up to this? That guy is a practical joker. God, I'm going to have to get that fucker back for this." The boy sitting across from me shifted awkwardly in his seat, looking down at his shoes with his hands tucked under his legs. He mumbled something I couldn't quite catch and shifted his feet, never sitting still. And then it dawned on me and I gasped aloud. This wasn't a joke; Peter hadn't done anything. This guy was here because he actually wanted a kiss, from me, a _boy_.

At my gasp the boys' head snapped up and our eyes met. He had the deepest green eyes I'd ever seen before, dark and bright all at the same time. If I hadn't been so freaked out by the fact that a boy wanted to kiss me his eyes would have awed me. As it was, I was trying to figure out what to do. I realized I still didn't know what he mumbled earlier and I figured it might help to find out so I asked him to repeat it. Blushing, he looked down again and said, "Um…" Taking a deep breath he looked up, swallowed and tried again, "I…I don't know who that is. I just moved here from Washington. I just came here for a kiss." He got quieter and quieter as he talked and by the time he said kiss it was barely a whisper. The blush returned and he started to fidget in his seat again. "Oh…" was my oh-so-eloquent reply. The boy stood up suddenly and looked around, everywhere but at me. "I'm sorry," he said, "This was a bad idea. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." With that he started to leave.

"Wait," I called after him, not sure what possessed me to call him back. I had to come up with something to say though because he paused mid step and turned around to look at me, green eyes wide. "Um…well…uh…you already put your tickets into the bin and this is for charity right? And uh…it would be really bad of me to not give you a kiss just because you're a guy. I mean, I've kissed hundreds of girls today, what's wrong with kissing one guy, right?" _Oh dear God what did I just get myself into?_ The boy slowly walked back to the chair and sat down. "So, uh…I guess… here we go," I gulped out. And I leaned forward, waiting for him to meet me in the middle; I couldn't go all the way. He seemed just as nervous as I was. I don't know why, this was his idea. As we got closer and closer my breathing got heavier and heavier and I couldn't look at anything but his lips. Suddenly my mouth was really dry and I found it hard to breath. _Get a grip on yourself Jasper, it's just a kiss. Besides, nobody can see what's going on. It's not like anyone is ever going to know. _I pushed forward to meet him.

My eyes closed of their own accord and I gasped in air, filling my lungs. Breathing in I could smell him. I didn't smell flowers, anything sweet or even bubble gum like I was used to. His scent was a mixture of rain and forest, with just a hint of something musky. I loved it. I didn't have time to contemplate why I liked his smell so much as I was next captivated by the texture of his lips. The kiss was gentle, timid, and therefore I could just barely feel his lips on mine. Light as the touch was, I could tell they were soft. And his mouth was full. Instinctively, I pushed my lips against his harder and tilted my head to the side so I could deepen the kiss. Before I knew it was happening, my hands had found their way to his hair and were pulling him closer to me. His lips felt so good against my own and I couldn't help but let out a small moan.

At the sound of my moan my eyes shot open and I came back to my senses. I stilled my lips, untangled my hands from his hair and leaned back- taking in a deep breath to try to steady myself. Still breathing heavy, I gulped a few times and just stared at the boy, silently asking. Asking, _what,_ I wasn't sure. After what seemed like minutes, but was probably only a few seconds, he blinked, stood up and started walking to the door. His body was shaking slightly. As he pulled back the curtain, he looked over his shoulder and gave me a timid lopsided smile. My breath caught in my throat.

The next person walked in but I couldn't even tell you who she was. We kissed but the whole time my mind was somewhere else. I couldn't stop seeing those deep, forest green eyes and soft pomegranate lips. The morning went on. I think Jessica came back a time or two but I couldn't really tell you. I had kiss after kiss but not one of them were able to take my mind off the boy. _What did this mean?_ When Ben came to relieve me of my duty, I gladly walked away, seeking a place where I could just be alone with my thoughts for a while.

Walking to the gazebo at the edge of the park, I laid down on one of the benches, pulling my legs up to rest at a ninety-degree angle. Crossing my arms over my face, I let the weight of my body sink into the bench as I let out a heavy sigh. _Who was he? What did that kiss mean? Why did I kiss him in the first place? When can I kiss him again?_ That last question scared the shit out of me. I was straight. I have had four girlfriends, having had sex with two of them. I like women. I like their soft curves, and high voices. I like how they look, how the feel, how they smell. _So why do I keep thinking about him?_ I can't get him off my mind: the color of his eyes, the feel of his lips, the texture of his hair, the sound of his voice, his blush… The more I think about him, the more I want to know about him. He said he was from Washington. What possessed him to move to Texas? How old is he? Is he gay? What is his favorite color? Is he good at school or does he struggle like I do? What is his name?

I've never been homophobic but I've also never really been exposed to many gay people. I've lived in Texas my whole life. We live about half an hour outside of Austin so some people in town are liberal and others lean very far to the right. Needless to say, the conservatives aren't really gay friendly so we don't have many gay people in town. What I know about gay people I've learned from TV and movies. The boys in the movies usually have this look about them that screams "gay" but the boy from the booth looked just like any other boy in town- other than the fact that the boy from the booth was really pale because he hadn't lived here long enough to get a tan. He looked like he could be just one of the guys; could hang out with Peter, Mike, Eric, Jacob, Ben and I.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was being awoken by a loud voice over me. Apparently Peter thought it would be funny to make loud noises and dance around until I woke up. I was not happy. My head hurt from all the thinking I had done earlier and my lips were severely chapped. Laughing, Peter helped me off the bench and walked back toward the festivities with me. He was telling me about how he dunked Jacob two times in the dunk tank but I wasn't listening; I was too busy thinking about the boy from the kissing booth. I had to see him again. After my nap it almost seemed as if he were a dream, as if he weren't real. I needed to make sure that the connection I had imagined wasn't just that: imagined. Where would I find him?

I searched everywhere but still couldn't find him. He wasn't on any of the rides or at any of the game booths. I didn't see him buying anything at any of the concession stands. He wasn't listening to the live music or watching the girls in the talent show. I had no idea where he could be. Giving up I left Peter at the talent show and went to go sulk in the barn.

The barn currently housed Rosalie's horse as well as mine. Rose brought her horse because she did barrel racing for her talent. Most girls danced or sang but Rose had always been different. She was the most beautiful girl I knew but she was also fierce. Some people mistook her ambition for bitchy-ness but once you got to know her, Rose was fiercely loyal and kind. Her mare was a beautiful white Arabian named Snowfire. Snowfire had nothing on my Phoenix though. Phoenix was my chestnut Quarter Horse. He was only here because Snowfire was, as the two hated to be separated from one another. They'd been born on the same ranch and were raised like siblings- regardless of the fact they were different breeds. They were as inseparable as Rose and me.

As I entered the barn I could hear voices coming from the other side. When I recognized the voice I stopped dead in my tracks to listen. It was _him._ He seemed to be talking with someone. Stepping closer and peering around the stall I could see two boys. One was the boy from the kissing booth and the other looked like he might be a few years older. The bigger boy was built, probably a football player or wrestler. He had the same nose, full lips and pale skin as my boy so I figured they might be related. _Wait, did I just think of him as _my_ boy? _

"I just don't know how else to explain it Emmett," _my_ boy said. "It was wonderful. It was the best kiss I've ever had. We were getting into it. He had his hands in my hair and had started to kiss me, I mean _really_ kiss me, and then he just stopped. I think he was into it but I just don't know. What do I do?" He sounded so defeated. I wanted to go over there and tell him that it was the best kiss I've ever had too but I couldn't. I stayed hidden and waited for the larger boys', Emmett's, answer.

His voice was as large as he was when he replied, "Dude. I don't know bro. I mean, I don't have any experience with boys. If a girl started kissing me and then stopped I guess I would think she was just scared. You said this guy was nervous and jumpy before the kiss right?" My boy nodded. "Well, he probably just doesn't know what hit him. This sounds like it was his first time kissing a guy. Maybe he is just confused. If you see him again just talk to him. Try to be his friend. If that kiss was as amazing as you said it was I'm sure he felt it too. Just give it time bro. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go scope out the new meat," and with that he was gone, leaving my boy sitting on a haystack all by himself.

Opening and closing the barn door loudly so it would sound like I just came in, I headed over to Phoenix's stall and started to brush his mane as I hummed a song; hoping that my boy might come over to see what was going on. I wasn't disappointed. After a few minutes, I heard footsteps behind me and then a small gasp. Turning, I saw him leaning against the door staring at me. Thinking on my feet I smiled at him and beckoned him to come into the stall with me. His eyes got wide and he gulped. Shaking his head 'no' a tiny bit he took a step back. Asking him what was wrong, he looked over at Phoenix and frowned. Realizing that he was afraid of my horse I told him it was okay, that he was safe. Finally, he opened the gate and came to stand by me, keeping my body between himself and the horse.

He looked down shyly again, and deciding that that wasn't going to fly with me, I held out my hand for him to shake and introduced myself, "Hello. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier. I'm Jasper Hale." Shaking my hand he looked me in the eye and told me his name was Edward, Edward Cullen. I finally knew my boys' name. _Edward._ Grinning like a fool I looked down at his hand in mine. I marveled at how _right _it felt. His hand was soft but firm. His fingers were longer than I was used to but that only made it feel better. Realizing that I was holding his hand far longer than was acceptable for a normal handshake, I reluctantly let go. When I looked back up at him, I found him staring into my eyes.

Swallowing loudly I tried to direct his attention elsewhere so he wouldn't see the affect he was having on me. I was a healthy teenage boy and his touch had awoken something in me that usually only stirred when I thought of bikini-clad women. I introduced him to my horse and he admitted that he had never been so close to any animal other than a cat or dog before. He said in Forks, the town where he was born and raised, they didn't have much domestic wildlife. Apparently people there were more concerned with fishing than ranching. He was more likely to see a dear or raccoon than a horse.

Leading Edward to the front of the stall so he was facing Phoenix, I showed him how to pet Phoenix's snout. It took some encouraging but eventually Edward was petting him like he had known Phoenix for years. I was mesmerized watching Edward's long fingers stroke over the star on Phoenix's head. I began to wonder what those fingers would feel like stroking parts of my body. _Get a grip Jasper. You just met the guy a few hours ago. And your _straight!_ Yeah. Right. _Totally_ straight. _

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I handed Edward a sugar cube. He just stared at me blankly seemingly unaware of what to do. Laughing, I said, "It's not for you dummy, it's for him" I said pointing over at my horse. "Put the cube on your open palm and then place it under his nose. That's it." When Edward flinched away I told him that he would be fine, he wasn't going to have his hand eaten off. When Phoenix nibbled up the cube he must have tickled Edward's hand because next thing I knew Edward was laughing. His laugh was the most beautiful sound in the world and his smile left an ache in my chest that sent my heart beating like the wind. I could no longer deny it. I was attracted to Edward Cullen. I didn't know what my sexual orientation was, but I couldn't fool myself into thinking I was one hundred percent straight anymore. Edward Cullen had changed me. For the better or worse was still to be decided.

…...

The sun was starting to set and I didn't want to have to say goodbye. Talking to Edward had been so nice. He was so different than all of my friends but there was something about him that made me feel like I could really be myself; that I didn't have to hide anything. It felt like we'd been friends for years rather than hours.

We sat on a set of abandoned bleachers and watched the sun sink lower and lower in silence. When I felt like I couldn't wait anymore, I finally blurted out what I'd been thinking about since that morning. "Edward, are you gay?" As soon as I said it, I felt like a complete asshole. Here I was, knowing the guy for only a few hours and I was already asking him very personal questions.

His laugh caught me off guard; so much so that I looked up from my clasped hands and into his eyes. The laughter seemed to catch in his throat and he immediately turned his head away from me. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that." Again, he started laughing. Only, this time, it wasn't a pure, ringing sound, but a nervous, embarrassed one. "Does it really matter? I mean, would it bother you if I was?"

The answer came before I even knew for sure that I really meant it, "Yes it matters." His face dropped. "And no, it doesn't bother me."

"Then why does it matter?" He looked so puzzled. Just about as puzzled as I felt at that moment.

"Because…I…I guess I just wanted you to know that you are the first guy I've ever kissed. And…well, if you're gay, I wanted to…you know…get a guys opinion on how it was. I mean…was it okay? I mean…never mind…I…" I didn't really even know what I was trying to say. Part of me wanted to run away with my tail between my legs and never see Edward again. The other part of me, the part that terrified the living be-jebus out of me, wanted to stay and say something cool enough to make him kiss me again.

Edward looked down at his lap, a small smile playing on his face. Then, his face whipped up and he looked at me with wide eyes and an almost panicked expression on his face, "Oh shit!"

He had me worried. "What? What Edward? Is everything okay? What happened?"

"I completely forgot. I've been spending the whole day with you and I never had a chance to spend the rest of my tickets. I have so many left but everything's closed down." A huge frown came over his face; making him look like a sad, lonely puppy.

"That's it? Holy shit Edward. You really had me worried there. I thought something was actually wrong. Not spending your tickets isn't a big deal man. Get over it." I gave him a small shove on the shoulder to emphasize my point and smiled to let him know I was joking.

His lost puppy look vanished and was replaced with a smirk and twinkle of the eye that had me skeptical of whatever he was going to say before it even left his mouth. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and I recognized it as the program guide for the day (a list of all the activities, the number of tickets they cost, and the rules that had to be followed). "You know, I can think of one activity I could still do." Looking back down at the paper he read, "Kissing booth: Kisses last no longer than five seconds. No tongue. Two tickets."

The next thing I knew, he was pulling out a stack of tickets from his pocket. I watched as he tore off two. What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion. He smiled at me, never taking his eyes off my face. He reached over, tickets in hand, and placed the two orange pieces of paper into my open palm.

I gulped.

All at once my brain seemed to be able to work again and it quickly took stock of the situation. Edward was sitting next to me, facing me with one leg on either side of the bleacher seat. Somehow I found that I was mirroring his pose and our knees were almost touching. The sun was shining orange and pink hues over his face and his eyes bore into mine. I could tell that some of the pink on his face was from a deep blush, but the set of his lips and the angle of his jaw told me he was confident, and he knew what he wanted. It was then that I felt the paper in my hand and looked down at it: two tickets.

And I realized what he wanted. I was nodding yes before I even knew what I was doing. Suddenly, his hand was on my shoulder pulling me forward and his face was right next to mine. I could feel his breath on my lips before I felt him place a gentle kiss and pull away. My lips immediately missed the warmth. I felt a shudder pass through my body and I hastily blamed it on the setting sun.

He was trying to hand me something. I looked down and realized that he was holding out two more tickets. With slightly shaking hands, I took them. This time, I leaned in of my own accord to meet his lips. My eyes closed and I felt my heart contract. A serge of heat traveled trough me; making me feel so content. It was a sweet kiss, no moisture, no promises of sex and no vulgarity; just two people connecting and being fully aware of the other.

Before I pulled away, he cupped my neck in his hand and held me in place. I felt him put a couple more tickets in my shirt pocket with his free hand but was too busy drifting off into the clouds to really pay attention.

"Edward," I whispered when his hand tightened it's grip, tilting my head to the right. I needed to be closer, to touch with more than just my lips. So, I scooted forward until my legs were over his and I was practically sitting on his lap. My arms found their way around his back and my hands wove into his hair. He had such thick and wavy hair. Such broad and muscular shoulders.

As my head tilted, so did his. The kiss became heated, reminding me of our kiss that morning. My chest was moving up and down, up and down, wildly breathing but the only reason I knew that to be true was because I could feel his chest doing the same thing. His fingers explored my hair and my neck, driving me forward.

My tongue slid along his bottom lip and his mouth opened immediately. I became lost. My head was fuzzy and my whole body felt light, like I was about to faint. But I couldn't stop. Edward's tongue on mine was heaven. All of a sudden he pulled back and said, "We broke the rules. We're not supposed to use tongue." He had a sheepish look on his face, like breaking the rules would actually matter.

"Fuck the rules Edward. Kiss me." And he did. Oh God, he did. I was drowning in the sensations he caused. Too soon, he pulled away but before I could protest, he'd moved his mouth to my neck and was licking and biting until he came to my ear. He sucked the earlobe into his mouth and nibbled on it.

His breath was hot and heavy. "Jasper," he whispered. "Jasper." He made my name sound like a fervent prayer. "Jasper, I really like you Jasper." His breath became shallower and I could hear him swallow before he continued, "What about you? Do you like me too…or…"

He pulled away so he could look at my face. I didn't know what to do. Sure, part of me was already falling in love with the boy sitting in front of me. But, that was wrong, because he's a boy. And I like girls. But…I liked Edward too. What did that mean? Was I gay? Bi? I didn't know and the unknown frightened me.

I answered as honestly as I could, "I like you Edward. But I don't know what that means. I've never felt a connection like this before, not even with a girl. And well, you're the first guy I've ever kissed, or even thought about really. I don't know what this means." I looked at him, pleading for him to understand- to stay by my side even though I was so unsure. I needed him to walk me through this.

His answering smile took my breath away. "Well Jasper, If I was a girl and we had just kissed like that, what would be your next move?"

"I'd take you out to dinner. Or maybe we'd go out riding together. We'd go to the drive in theater and make out in the back seat the whole time. We'd go to the river and have a picnic. I'd take you home to Rose so she could meet you. I don't know. We'd be boyfriend and girlfriend...I guess."

Edward placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. I could see hesitation in his eyes but I leaned forward to hear what he was going to say regardless. "Jasper…I know you're uncomfortable feeling this way about a guy, I get that. But…please Jasper. I want to do everything you just talked about with you. I want to learn how to ride a horse, to go swimming and eat cheesy picnic food with you. I want to meet your family and I want to kiss you until you forget who you are while we're supposed to be watching a movie. I want to hold your hand when we go out to dinner. Please...Jasper…will you be my boyfriend?"

He looked so hopeful. And his words warmed my whole body. I looked into his eyes and that decided it for me. I suddenly didn't care what people would think or that I would be flying blind on this new adventure. All I cared about was making Edward look at me like _that_ again. I bit my bottom lip and nodded yes.

The next thing I know, I was pushed back on the bench and Edward was straddling me. His hands were above my head and he was leaning forward so that our whole torsos were connected. He smirked down at me and said, "Good. So…is it okay if I give my boyfriend a kiss?" Before I could even give him my answer, his lips were on mine.

When he pulled away, I needed a few moments to center myself before I could sit up. The sun was now fully set and I had to get home before Rose wondered where I was. I got Edward's number and he took mine. We hugged goodbye at his car and shared one last chaste kiss before I watched him drive away.

I started walking back to the barn to ride Phoenix home. Before I even reached the barn door, my pocket vibrated signaling an incoming text message. I pulled out my phone and smiled when I read_: I had a really great time today. Will you go out to dinner with me next Friday? –E_

I grinned and sent a quick "yes," thinking that my life was about to become really exciting and new. And I couldn't wait.

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you all for reading. Please let me know what you thought. I know the ending seems rather abrupt but I wanted to end it on an uplifting yet vague note.

Again- Happy birthday love!

-Laura


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